(s) Archive
2022-11-01
In the past two decades, Inon Zur has made a reputation as a strong, reliable, and innovative composer in the game music industry. He has worked on major titles within franchises such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Dragon Age and has come to define the soundscape of one especially interesting adventure game series: Syberia.… Read More »
2022-10-27
Strap on your jetpack for a vibrant anime RPG mixing sci-fi with real world science! Arriving in 2023, LunarLux will take players to a stylish pixelated world inspired by Mega Man Battle Network, starring a lineup of colorful characters that could fit right in to a Studio Trigger production.
2022-10-26
“Games shouldn’t be political.” “The main character being a woman/person of color/queer isn’t realistic.” “Sad, they’re pandering to SJWs/Woke gamers instead of focusing on making games.” You’ve probably heard one or all of these “critiques” of games and developers who try to be inclusive. Whether it’s on social media, in the comments section of a… Read More »
2022-10-19
And here’s the end of our list! The Xbox 360 had comparatively fewer “exclusive” RPGs, so we decided to limit the list to five. But there are still some all-timers here that are worth checking out even today! Give our list a look below. 1) Tales of Vesperia Written by Wes Iliff Tales of Vesperia… Read More »
Below, you’ll find our ten best games released on the PS3 (and not the 360). There are notably more Japanese games on this list, and the PS3 has more solid RPGs than a lot of people give it credit for, so we have a ranked list of 10 for you! 1) Persona 5 Written by… Read More »
Many see the “PSWii60” era as a bit of a dark age for RPGs, and there’s certainly something to that. There were fewer releases and many developers, particularly in Japan, struggled to transition to HD. Nonetheless, there were plenty of excellent games in the genre we love, and some of them are downright classics. And… Read More »
2022-10-02
Wes Iliff I knew going in what a special game LIVE A LIVE is. After playing it decades ago through a fan translation, getting into an official western release was something to get excited for. What I didn’t expect was how well it would hold up, or how well a few small quality of life… Read More »
2022-10-01
The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series is kind of like potato chips: Once you play one, you’ll want to play them all! You’ll be stunned at how readily you’ll jump from one 60-hour epic game to the next without a second thought. And if you ever get tired of the critical path of any of them,… Read More »
Yakuza Gaiden | Spin-Offs To Watch Out For (And Play): Aside from the several mainline games, the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series also touts a sizable collection of exciting spin-offs! RGG Studio takes advantage of the creative freedom offered by spin-offs by inventing wild (even for Yakuza) scenarios. Much of the mainline cast is reused in… Read More »
Hey, Does This Seem Like A Lot? Try Judgment! There are times when we all get a little tired of our daily routines and want to switch things up. It seems like RGG Studio reached that point back in the late 2010s, deciding that it was time to stretch their muscles and create a brand-new… Read More »
2022-09-23
The debut project from Montreal studio BlindCoco, Gales of Nayeli, brings you a strategy experience inspired by Fire Emblem and Shining Force.
2022-09-21
Last year, Kitfox Games released Boyfriend Dungeon, a title that allows you to live the ultimate human fantasy. Who doesn’t want to live in a lazy beach town with all the amenities anyone could ever ask for — a place where some people (and vampires) can turn into weapons you wield to fight evil presences… Read More »
2022-09-07
RPGFan: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is arguably the most RPG entry in the series to date, but you’re currently working on a shorter story in the same setting with a summer theme. Summer Daze at Hero-U: Tilly’s Tale is more of a visual novel. We’ve been anticipating it for a while, as visual novels are… Read More »
Long ago, there was a beloved adventure game series called Quest for Glory, the product of husband and wife team Lori and Corey Cole. It was incredibly fun and took stat boosting and class mechanics from tabletop RPGs and blended them with point-and-click exploration and action RPG combat long before others were melding those ideas.… Read More »
2022-09-04
Michael Sollosi Final Fantasy XIII was a victim of its own hype. When Square Enix outlined the Fabula Nova Crystallis project in 2006, they committed themselves to (at least) four games of great ambition and promise, but unfortunately none of their development cycles went quite as planned. Final Fantasy XIII is startlingly beautiful, especially for… Read More »
2022-08-31
It’s no secret: RPGs are getting longer. Budgets are getting bigger, and developers are packing games with so much extra fun/tedium that you can spend hours in a game and miss entire systems. At one point, a long RPG was around 40 hours. My Persona 5 save (not Royal!) was around 112 hours. That’s insane!… Read More »
2022-08-26
Many of us will remember the early 2000s as a very fond era of gaming: HD didn’t exist yet, voice acting was uncommon, and many RPG series were thriving on Sony consoles. Unfortunately, this magical time would not last forever, and sadly we said goodbye to many wonderful series. However, following the boon of crowdfunding… Read More »
2022-08-24
Thankfully, you can start a virtual romance with the gentlemen (and ladies) featured in Birds of Paradise, a boy band themed visual novel from the developers of horror title Up All Night.
2022-08-20
As summer comes to a close, I’m already lamenting the loss of beautiful beach vacations and the warm weather. Plus, who doesn’t love the excuse to stay inside and play a lengthy RPG when it’s too hot? So, to help lessen the blow a little, we decided to get together and talk a little about… Read More »
Welcome to Part 2 of our Top 20 RPG Summer Towns feature! This time we visit some hot springs, great Zelda home towns, and even some real life British locations. Lonalulu – Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age by Wes Iliff If you enjoy summers at the beach, you’ll have a hard time… Read More »
2022-08-10
Michael Sollosi Tales of Xillia has a few things going against it. Its PS3-only release somewhat limits its audience, especially since the PS3 has a weaker overall library of games than the PS2, further scaring players away. But PS3 owners who seek out JRPGs and are at least Tales of-curious series are in for a… Read More »
One of the fondest memories of my youth is sitting at a friend’s house playing PlayStation and Nintendo 64 with him. One of the games we loved playing was Wild ARMs, a classic turn-based JRPG taking place in sprawling desert terrain. At the time, we had never seen anything like it and quickly became obsessed.… Read More »
2022-08-03
This will either be a difficult fact to visualise or a painful memory to recall, but the Nintendo Switch suffered a severe drought of RPGs for a good while after it launched. While we have been blessed by many solid releases in the years since, Octopath Traveler was one of the first must-have RPG exclusives… Read More »
2022-07-27
For anime and manga fans, the concept of the “isekai,” or “otherworld,” is an exceedingly popular narrative device. Of course, the idea isn’t exclusive to Japanese media, arguably dating back to Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Regardless of its place of origin, the core tenants of isekai stories remain: the protagonist, a resident of… Read More »
2022-07-24
July 24th, 2022: Our Top 25 Nintendo 3DS RPGs feature was originally published on October 10th, 2018. We’ve reposted it as a reminder, as players will no longer be able to add funds to their accounts for use on the 3DS eShop on August 29th, 2022. See all the details in our February coverage. When… Read More »
